Human Rights Violations
How Discrimination is Tearing Apart our World
When people think of genocide, thoughts immediately turn to Hitler, the Nazis, and the Holocaust. This was a horrible event in history that has thankfully passed, but it isn't the only genocide that has happened in our world. In some countries, like the DRC, genocide is still going on!! The following are just a few examples of countries that have and currently suffer from human rights violations.
Sudan
The Darfur Genocide
The Darfur Genocide
The Sudanese conflict began in Spring of 2003, when two rebel groups, the Sudanese Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, attacked the country's president, Omar
al-Bashir. The government immediately retaliated, bombing villages, burning homes, killing people on the street, and raiding economic resources; a militia group called the Janjaweed allied with the president of Sudan. The military was targeting people with similar ethnic backgrounds as though who rebelled. In Sudan, many people had died due to drought and famine, causing conflict to arise between the Arab, nomad herders and the black, African farmers. The farmers thought that the government was treating them poorly and refusing to put any Africans in power. The tension rose and a genocide of horror began, displacing over 3 million people who were killed, lost, or forced to seek refuge. Many of these refugees took to the border of Chad. The United Nations has attempted to help those in need, but the Sudanese government has denied access to the most vulnerable people and the families most in need. The UNAMID (United Nations-African Union Mission) are unable to avoid the secure restrictions of Sudanese government. Though the conflict was declared over, and the International Crime Court (ICC) has issued arrest for President Omar al-Bashir, 3.2 helpless people remain affected by the conflict today.
al-Bashir. The government immediately retaliated, bombing villages, burning homes, killing people on the street, and raiding economic resources; a militia group called the Janjaweed allied with the president of Sudan. The military was targeting people with similar ethnic backgrounds as though who rebelled. In Sudan, many people had died due to drought and famine, causing conflict to arise between the Arab, nomad herders and the black, African farmers. The farmers thought that the government was treating them poorly and refusing to put any Africans in power. The tension rose and a genocide of horror began, displacing over 3 million people who were killed, lost, or forced to seek refuge. Many of these refugees took to the border of Chad. The United Nations has attempted to help those in need, but the Sudanese government has denied access to the most vulnerable people and the families most in need. The UNAMID (United Nations-African Union Mission) are unable to avoid the secure restrictions of Sudanese government. Though the conflict was declared over, and the International Crime Court (ICC) has issued arrest for President Omar al-Bashir, 3.2 helpless people remain affected by the conflict today.
Rwanda
Induced Civil War
Induced Civil War
Rwanda had been home of two tribes who had been living peacefully for many years. This life-style remained as the peoples home was settled by European colonists; Belgium chose the western half of Rwanda, due to the Congo River and other resources, leaving the remaining land to Germany. Then, World War I (WWI) struck, and the Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to give up their land because of their war loss. It was at that time that things went south for the tribes. Belgium had an obsession for race. They believed that the Tutsis, the smaller of the two tribes, was better fit to rule because they were taller and more elegant with light skin and thin noses. They were put in good schools, and high positions, which did not set a good mood among the larger Hutu tribe. A Civil War began, induced by Belgians' foolish decisions, and the Hutus overpowered the Tutsi leaders and forced them into exile. The genocide began when the Hutus set out for a mass extermination of Tutsis. In 100 days, from April to June, 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered and the Hutus sought refuge in neighboring countries, like the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). That's 6 people for every 60 seconds of every hour of every day. The Rwandan president was among those killed. This was 1994. Since then, Rwanda is still trying to recover from the mass destruction and horrible losses that they have faced.
DRC
Survival in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Survival in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Ever since 1996, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been struggling to survive. This bloody genocide, considered as the worst since World War II (WWII). Congo had been affected by the first and second Congo Wars which had lasting affects on the country's government and economy. The First Cong War was a result of Hutu refugees spilling into their count from Rwanda; the DRC didn't want to have to deal with this, on top of the fact that a few years later while the battle was still raging, rebel Laurent Kabila named himself president and renamed Congo as Zaire. He had exiled the previous ruler who later died and took over the country in his own fashion. Unfortunley, the people of Zaire did not agree with his decisions and Civil War broke out as Kabila's rule was described as bias and corrupt. Laurent died in that war, but that brought his son, Joseph Kabila to power. Eleven African countries have signed a peace treaty under the supervision of Kabila, who hopes to lead the country back to its age of greatness. But no single act could resolve such a horrendous atrocity. Violent attacks on the government continue and Hutu rebels continue to seek shelter and survival in the country that is holding itself together by threads. The conflict in Congo continues to rage with citizens still lost for ideas and little to no end in sight. The ICC has prosecuted and pressed charges for several directly responsible figures.
The Holocaust
The World Said "Never Again"
The World Said "Never Again"
The Holocaust was considered the worst genocide to ever occur on our planet, a human rights issue so massive that 11 million innocent lives were lost for reasons like race, class, or religion. It began at the end of WWI. Germany has lost the war, and had to give up foreign land, including land in Rwanda. Adolf Hitler was a soldier in the war who began a group called the German Workers Party. This group would soon transform into the atrocious Nazi Party. Hitler considered Jewish people to be rats; the group he formed was convinced that Jews were rats and didn't deserve to be considered humans. During a period of time that Hitler spent in prison, he wrote Mein Kampf, a pamphlet that described what he planned to do with his rule and how he would gain revenge on the Jewish religion. When Hitler did become chancellor of Germany in later years, he followed these plans, vandalizing and trapping the people in large areas surrounded by barbed wire called ghettos. The most famous was the Warsaw Ghetto, where people had nearly no food or water, turning the people there into living skeletons. They were then sent to concentration camps where they were forced to work until they turned ill, injured, or dead from the effort and lack of proper living. He would send large amounts of people to be "cleaned", and dropped in poisonous gases to kill hundreds at a time. But he wasn't alone in his action; the entire Nazi party sought out, not just Jews, but disables people, Polish people, and even lower class people who didn't meet their expectations of the "perfect race". The Nazi party was partially responsible for the beginning of WWII, during which Hitler would commit suicide as a coward and a violator of human rights. Leaders around the world said "Never Again" due to the loss of life and destruction that is still mourned over today. Yet, after pledging to save human rights, our world has denied that promise and caused many more tragedies that would harm the people who they see as different. . . . . . . .